Today Rocksteady held a panel for Batman: Arkham City, which hits shelves this Tuesday, October 18th. A number of topics were discussed during the session, however the news that brought up one of the biggest reactions was that of the games length. According to game director Sefton Hill, a single playthrough of the game will take up to 30 hours. Thats more than double Arkham Asylum’s length. Including challenge maps, there seems to be more than enough to keep bat fans occupied for a while. The length won’t just mean more of the same either. The game world will be five times the size of the original, with double the moves and animation (and from what I can tell, double the gadgets too).

The crowd was then treated to a demo of the game and it looks outstanding. With help from Alfred via satellite (acting as Oracle did in the first game), Batman had to glide across the city to find the source of the Joker’s radio signal. The might have been a slow leisurely stroll before, but now with the dive and swoop mechanic, Batman practically flies through the air at high speeds. We also saw Bats pick off a few groups of thugs, showcasing almost an entirely new moveset. Dual enemy attacks, catching barrels a throwing them back, and lets not forget behind the back grappling enemies and hurling them back for a knockout blow. From what I’ve seen, this game is on it’s way to outperforming the greatest superhero game of all time.

Starting Thursday, we will embark on a full court press of the New York Comic Con. Check here all weekend and into next week for interviews, news and highlights. Follow us on twitter too as we’ll be updating live from the panels and more!

Among the things we will be covering:

Adult Swim
Cartoon Network isn’t playing around, sending most of their Adult Swim lineup to New York. On hand will be talent from Robot Chicken, Venture Bros, Superjail, and the upcoming miniseries The Heart, She Holler starring Patton Oswalt and Kristen Schaal.

Shoot Many Robots
We’re going to demo Demiurge Studios’ upcoming action-RPG Shoot Many Robots. So far it looks like it has a little Metal Slug in it. If so we’re in for a downloadable treat!

Activision
Activision will have a number of titles headlining their booth (I won’t get into X-Men Destiny) centered around the soon-to-be-released GoldenEye 007: Reloaded and PROTOTYPE 2. Hopefully we can get some information on the new Transformers game as well.

Voltron
With all of the 80s cartoons and shows coming back, it was only a matter of time before Voltron made it’s presence known again. Will new toys, a THQ video game, comic books and a new TV series, we’ll see just how much Voltron I can handle before I throw up.

Avengers
Fans have been waiting years for the Avengers to assemble on the big screen, and with the trailer debuting this week it’s that much closer to actually happening. Chris Evans, Tom Hiddleson and Cobie Smulders will be on hand to debut some new footage from the movie, and most likely start the biggest nerdgasm of the weekend.

We’ll have that and plenty more to talk about from games, to movies, and even comics (this is a comic book convention after all). So don’t forget to check the site periodically for videos, stories, and more!

Just like the MLB has it’s minor league system I believe the UFC would benefit from making Strikeforce it’s minor league system. Here are my quick thoughts on why I think it could work.

Minor League Deals:

Fighters could sign Minor League deals with incentives for if/when they got called up to the UFC. Bring in more prospects and keep around guys that fans love. Instead of cutting a fighter after a couple loses they could be sent down to Strikeforce. What fighter wouldn’t feel better about at least getting the chance to stick around and work his way back. Having Strikeforce means more roster spots. Guys don’t have to worry as much about losing their jobs.

Why Showtime should agree to this:

I don’t know about you but I’ll watch pretty much any MMA. I spent a nice summer day sitting inside on my computer watching BAMMA, Bellator prelims on spike.com and then Strikeforce. I catch any promotion I can that gets streamed online (Shark Fights, BAMMA) I believe people will still tune into Showtime and watch despite Strikeforce being the UFC’s minor league. When you think about it every promotion other then UFC is a minor league anyway. Showtime could continue to focus on the “Rising Stars”(Challengers) and also capitalize on the “UFC” names.

Why it makes sense for Zuffa:

Unless Zuffa continues to want to buy their competitors I think it makes sense for them to keep Strikeforce around. How hard is it to compete with the number one promotion when they also own the number two promotion. What guys are these competitors going to get if Zuffa continues to have this huge talent pool. Let’s face it, If you consider yourself one of the best fighters in the world and you’re not even in the number two promotion how can you be taken serious. The UFC will become what the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB is. The only Professional League. A minor league would give them the opportunity to keep all the smaller promotions small promotions.

Quick Thoughts:

I’d get rid of all the belts except for the women’s division. Instead of getting a belt I’d do “Light Weight” of the year or something down that line. What’s the point in having a belt that gets vacated all the time.

They could develop the women’s divisions. More and more girls will get into MMA if they know Women’s MMA has a place in Strikeforce’s future. The only way you’ll get deeper divisions is if these young girls see there is an opportunity to make it. Without Strikeforce, Women’s progression in MMA faces a harder road.

And lastly,If the Showtime deal doesn’t happen i’d hope they would consider looking elsewhere or even streaming cards online. More free fights please!

Hope you enjoyed this. I don’t consider myself a journalist or even a blogger. I just enjoy MMA and love to talk about it. Check out my predictions during fight week’s and I’ll post some MMA related posts when I get the itch. Thanks.

I expect this to be the same fast paced grind out fight it was the last time these two fought. Although this time I think Edgar won’t have to climb the mountain after round one. For Frankie to go through what he did in the 1st round of their last fight and still arguably win every round after says a lot. I think he continues from where he left off and wins by Decision.

Frankie Edgar by Unanimous Decision

Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian

As much as i’d love to see Kenny finally get that belt I think Aldo will be too much for him. Aldo’s speed will be the difference in this fight. He is coming in leaner and that will just make him that much faster and cardio that much better. I think Kenny’s best shot at winning would be taking Aldo to the ground and grinding him out with some nasty elbows. I see Aldo landing a big knee or punch and finishing him on the ground. I would definitely like to see Kenny get that belt though.

Jose Aldo by Submission Round 3

Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann

I like Chael here. I see him using his double leg and keeping Stann on his back. Stann has big power but Chael seems to only lose via Leg Triangle. Stann does have that sub in his resume to his credit though. We’ll see.

Chael Sonnen by Unanimous Decision

Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan

So here is what I expect from this fight. Leonard is an exciting fighter. He throws everything at full blast. Unfortunately he gets tired after 2 minutes. So here is my EXACT prediction for how this fight will go. Leonard throwing kicks and some big overhands. The crowd is going crazy! 2 minutes later he is gassed. Nam Phan now picks Garcia apart for the next 2 and a half rounds. To Leonard’s credit he continues to look for that Home Run and swings a way but I just don’t see Phan getting into a Brawl. He’ll pick his spots and body punch his way to a UD.

Nam Phan by Unanimous Decision

Melvin Guillard vs. Joe Lauzon

When Melvin Guillard fights you almost feel bad for his opponents. When he connects on a big punch it’s the same sound as a Randy Johnson fast ball as it hits the mitt. If Joe can take this fight to the ground and keep it there he has a shot. I just don’t see him getting close enough without taking a big amount of punishment. I think Guillard is the scariest opponent for anyone at 155.

Melvin Guillard by KO First Round

Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago

Maia takes this by Submission. His stand up has looked great lately but his ground game is his bread and butter. I hope this is a great fight just because I don’t want either to land on the cutting board. I’d like to see Santiago have a good fight so he can prove all his wins outside of the UFC where legit.

Demian Maia by Submission Round 3

Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens

I think this could be a candidate for Fight Of The Night. Both guys are great strikers. Stephens has big power and Pettis does things you’d see in a video game. Stephens wants a brawl but I see Pettis using his complete game and taking Stephens to the ground. I hope they do stand up and bang but after Pettis’ fight with Clay Guida I think he’ll do what he has to do to take the win.

Anthony Pettis by Submission Round 3

QUICK PICKS

Joey Beltran vs. Stipe Miocic

Beltran by TKO Round 2

Tiequan Zhang vs. Darren Elkins

Zhang by TKO Round 2

Aaron Simpson vs Eric Schafer

Simpson by Unanimous Decision

Steve Cantwell vs. Mike Massenzio

Cantwell by TKO round 3

Fight Of The Night:Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard

KO Of The Night:Melvin Guillard

Sub Of The Night:Anthony Pettis

My Wins/Loses 11-4

My Bonus Record (Fight Of The Night ETC) 3-3

You can watch UFC 136 this saturday at 9 ET on PPV. Prelims will be on Spike TV and Facebook. Enjoy The Fights!

This might be one of the funniest commercials I’ve ever seen. I also can’t remember the last time I used the rewind button on a commercial. I just think the dude is hysterical! Kudos to whoever wrote this and who casted for it. Well done Planet Fitness 🙂 ENJOY

X-Men Destiny came out this week to mediocre reviews. The choice system has no impact, the enemies are repetitive, the game is too short, the list goes on. However, one decision made it almost impossible for this game to really take off from the start. The playable characters.

Before I go any further I should probably mention that despite by love of comic books, I have not played, nor have I even considered playing, X-Men: Destiny. My critiques have nothing to do with the controls or graphics (I’m sure both are well covered by better writers than myself). I am simply detailing why I had no desire to play it before, and certainly don’t now.

If you are playing an X-Men game, the first thing you probably want to do is be your favorite characters. It was made pretty obvious early on that that is not the case here. Instead you play as a new mutant (no, not those new mutants), who recently discovers his or her powers and has to decide whether to join the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (should be a no brainer considering one group has the work “evil” right in the middle of it but whatever).

Be prepared to not play as any of these people

This isn’t a bad idea at a glance. Being an unknown character can give you the ability to put yourself in the role of the young mutant, gaining cool powers while fighting among and against your favorite heroes and villains. I was initially on board with this game, thinking it was Marvel’s answer to DC Universe Online, where you create a hero or villain from scratch and fight among all the characters in famous DC locations. Boy was I wrong.

Starting from the top, you have the choice to be 1 of 3 mutants. A regular guy, a beefed up guy, and a girl. You also have a choice between 3 powers, none of which I will name because they are all the same. It turns out it doesn’t really matter what character or power you choose because they are all basically skins for the same generic person and actions. For a game claiming to be all about choosing your destiny, there already isn’t a lot of choice here. As for choosing sides, it turns out that doesn’t really matter either. Both sides are going against a third party that is out to get all mutants. This makes for a pretty cheap way to make all you good/bad choices not mean a thing. Essentially the only thing your choices do is determine who “helps” you on all of your missions. Regardless of your chosen character you have two endings, which are solely determined by the final choice you make. 3 characters, 3 powers, 2 endings. Doesn’t really add up.

Who wouldn't want to be buff guy? Or girl with scarf?

None of this is unprecedented, but it doesn’t really give anything back either. Ultimate Alliance 2 didn’t change too drastically based on your decisions, but you at least got different cut scenes and played as your favorite heroes. Force Unleashed left you has an guy you never heard of with no choices, but you go against famous Star Wars creatures and characters, and you get all the force powers you ever dreamed of having. You don’t get optic blasts or psychic powers in X-Men: Destiny. All you get are 3 random powers that seem to all be identical extensions of your fists, which you use against random people you never heard of, as a person you don’t care about. That game has been done much better twice before, Infamous and Prototype.

Considering Ultimate Alliance and X-Men Legends, I get not making another beat’em up where you play as Marvel characters. However the model for this game really should have been DC Universe Online. I would have loved the ability to create my own mutant, with an actual costume and powers of my choosing, while actually fighting against X-Men characters. With 3 different, although generic, characters the potential was there for 6 possible outcomes. Good and bad. Instead we got 2, with a short play through time to go with it. Would it really have been so much trouble to throw in flight?

oooooh yeh! More UFC this weekend. It’s also on free tv so that’s always nice. Plus we get to see a title fight which is awesome. Will Dominick Cruz continue his title reign? Will Barry vs. Struve make it past the first round? Will Anthony “Rumble” Johnson make weight? (JK) Check out my predictions!

Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson

I can see Johnson taking two of these rounds using his wrestling but I think Cruz will be too much and will dominate on the feet. He’s too long and his angles are too good. I see Cruz taking this one convincingly. I do expect a war and some great fast paced back and forth action.

DOMINICK CRUZ, Unanimous Decision

Pat Barry vs. Stefan Struve

Both guys are coming off devastating knock out loses. I see another knock out loss for Stefan Struve here. I see this being pretty one sided actually. I think Pat Barry’s power will be too much for Struve. Struve’s best shot is to take Pat down and go for the submission. I don’t see that happening though.

PAT BARRY, KO in 2nd

Anthony Johnson vs. Charlie Brenneman

Would love to see another upset from Charlie here. I don’t think that’s going to happen this time though. Both are great wrestlers so I see that canceling out the ground game. On the feet Johnson is too strong and has so much power. Plus he’ll probably weigh around 200 pounds on fight night. Not a great thing for Charlie. I didn’t pick Charlie against Rick Story either though, So I could be wrong again…

ANTHONY JOHNSON, TKO round 2

Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig

I like Matt here. I think he’s still fuming from that close lose he had against Dennis Siver (I thought he won) I see Matt grinding this one out.

MATT WIMAN, Unanimous Decision

QUICK PICKS

Yves Edwards vs. Rafaello Oliveira

EDWARDS, Unanimous Decision

Michael Johnson vs. Paul Sass

SASS, Submission round 3

Mike Easton vs. Byron Bloodworth

EASTON, KO round 3

Shane Roller vs. TJ Grant

ROLLER, Unanimous Decision

Josh Neer vs. Keith Wisniewski

NEER, Submission round 2

Walel Watson vs Joseph Sandoval

SANDOVAL, TKO round 2

FIght Of The Night:Cruz vs Johnson

KO Of The Night:Pat Barry

Sub Of The Night:Paul Sass

My WIns/Loses: 4-1

My Bonus Record (Fight Of the Night etc) 3-0

You can catch UFC LIVE 6 on Versus this saturday at 9 ET. Prelims will air on Facebook!

Today the Mets defeated the Reds 3-0 in the final game of 2011 at Citi Field. Miguel Batista threw a complete game 2 hit shutout. Mike Baxter, a Queens native, hit his 1st career home run.

Blink and you might have missed it But the real story of the day was Jose Reyes. Reyes went 1 for 1 with a lead off bunt single. That’s it. That’s it for his season, as he was trying to win a batting title. That also might be it for his Mets career, as he will enter the off season as one of the most sought after free agents on the market, with the Mets not necessarily having the money to spend on him. I was all ready to write a post blasting Terry Collins for pulling Reyes just so he could get a batting title. But then it came out that Reyes told Collins he wanted to be removed if he got a hit in the first. That changes everything.

The internet has been buzzing about how Reyes decided to pull himself after getting that 1 hit, putting his batting average at .337, enough to win the first National League batting title in Mets history. He’s being heavily criticized for winning it in a cheap way. Especially on the 70th anniversary of Ted Williams risking his .400 batting average by playing both games of a double header (he would go 6 for 8, raising his average to .406).

Jose Reyes spent most of his day watchingHowever I don’t care about batting titles. The last time I checked the only thing you got for a batting title was a pat on the back and maybe a bonus check (both of which Reyes has enough of). I do care however about the 28,816 people that were in attendance today, A decent number for a team full of replacements playing the last game of the year on a Wednesday afternoon, 90% of which were there specifically to see Jose Reyes one more time. Reyes was in the lineup for a total of 12 minutes (trust me, I checked). That means that if you were 15 minutes late to the last game of the season, possibly your first of the year, you completely missed seeing Jose Reyes at all. Sure he was brought out for a curtain call, but no one goes to games to see players wave. They want to see players play. If he comes back, then that moment stands as a mere side note to one of the greatest single seasons a Met has ever had. However if he doesn’t, his last game as a Met will be as anticlimactic as it could possibly have been.

Overall today did not change much. I still want Jose Reyes back. I still can’t blame him if he decides to chase big money or go to a better situation. It’s just a shame that the little bit of selfishness he displayed tarnished a Mets career that has been almost all about a team first attitude, putting Reyes among the most popular Mets of all time.

It may be a little cheap, but batting titles are unique and Reyes is justified in wanting to win one. Doing it in spite of the fans that have supported him for the last 9 years however, is not fair to both the fans and Reyes.

Hopefully next year, Reyes can make it up to the Mets faithful by being in the lineup for them on opening day 2012.

UFC 135 is this saturday! I’m really pumped for this. I love getting together with some buddies to talk mma and watch the fights. We’ll be enjoying our UFC with Wings and Beer at Buffalo Wild Wings! If you haven’t been there for any fights i’d advise you to check it! Here are my quick UFC 135 Predictions.

Diaz vs. Gomi
Diaz all the way. I see him getting the Sub in the 3rd round.

Browne vs Broughton
I’m going to go with Brown via TKO round 2.

Hughes vs. Koscheck
I love Matt Hughes but I see Kos taking this one in round 2 via KO.

Jones vs. Rampage
I really hope this one goes as long as possible. I see Jones taking this one via some elbows ground and pound in round 5. Rampage has some heavy hands so he can easily end it if he lands but i’ll go with Jon Jones via TKO round 5.